Sunday, October 2, 2011

WaPo: Perry Leased Hunting Land Named After N-Word. Reality: Rock With Name On It Was Painted Over In 1983, Right After Perry’s Father Joined Lease…

Texas Gov. Rick Perry found himself playing defense again today, this time facing a new round of criticism stemming from a Washington Post report on his family's lease on hunting grounds , which once was known by a racist name that is derogatory towards blacks.According to the Washington Post, Perry and his father held leases on a property in West Texas that was once called “N*****head.” The camp was called by that name for years before Perry and his father partook in the lease. A stone bearing this word stood at the entrance to the property, but the word was later painted over, and the rock was overturned so the offensive word would not be seen, the Post reported.The Perry campaign contested the claims made by the Washington Post, saying the family never owned the property that bore the derogatory name.“A number of claims made in the story are incorrect, inconsistent, and anonymous, including the implication that Rick Perry brought groups to the lease when the word on the rock was still visible. The one consistent fact in the story is that the word on a rock was painted over and obscured many years ago,” Perry communications director Ray Sullivan said in a statement.Perry’s father Ray first leased the property in 1983. Perry told the Washington Post in an e-mail that his father painted over the word shortly after he joined the lease.“When my Dad joined the lease in 1983, he took the first opportunity he had to paint over the offensive word on the rock during the 4th of July holiday,” Perry told the Post. “It is my understanding that the rock was eventually turned over to further obscure what was originally written on it.”Perry himself held a hunting lease on the land for several years between 1997 and 2007. His campaign says Perry has not visited the grounds since 2006.“My mother and father went to the lease and painted the rock in either 1983 or 1984,” Perry told the newspaper. “This occurred after I paid a visit to the property with a friend and saw the rock with the offensive word. After my visit I called my folks and mentioned it to them, and they painted it over during their next visit.”“Ever since, any time I ever saw the rock it was painted over,” Perry said.

Nothing but treacherous, but what you come to expect from the masters of yellow journalism.